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Making Enemies
Making Enemies "First of all, keep in mind that you’re never obligated to give any NPC a full sheet like the ones the PCs have. Most of the time, you’re not going to need to know that much information, because the NPCs aren’t going to be the center of attention like the PCs are. It’s better to focus on writing down exactly what you need for that NPC’s encounter with the PCs, and then fill in the blanks on the fly (just like PCs can) if that NPC ends up becoming more important in the campaign." - Fate SRD, Creating and Playing the Opposition Roughly in accordance with the sourcebook, enemies come in three rough levels of power: * Mooks- No-named cannon fodder with basic skills. Ranges between +1 and +3 in Battle skills. Might have a single "racial" stunt. Has no injury slots. Wolves, Angry Villagers ** Consider which Mooks can use Teamwork and which can’t. Some enemies are naturally good at teamwork (packs of wolves or hordes of insects), making them more deadly. * Lieutenants- Mook leaders. Generally one step above the mooks they represent in power level. Has one to two stunts and at least a single injury slot. Captains, Alpha Wolves, Village Chieftains. ** Taking out the guy in charge can sometimes dissolve the group he leads. At the very least, they won't be able to benefit from his Command skill and the Teamwork bonus. * Captains- Unique characters. Have character sheets with a full complement of stunts and injury slots. Are likely to be above player characters in terms of power. Also will have Fate Points and Troubles von Lichtenstein, Medea, Iago. ** Captains often play an important role in the campaign. They have their own histories, personalities, and relationships with factions. Their in-game behavior will reflect these factors. The Mook Factory First and foremost, recognize that Mooks are disposable. A GM shouldn't put in more time creating a Mook than the players will spend destroying it. Create a rough outline of their skills using the below traits and improvise the rest. * Battle Level- +2, +3 The overall level of a Mook's Battle skills (Combat, Reaction Time, Physique, Athletics). * Special Skills- Any unusual skills or abilities a Mook has (guards might have a +1 to Notice and Investigate, insect swarms might have a +1 to Command). As an important aside, Mooks do not have injury slots. '''They go down as soon as their stress track is filled. Lieutenants Lieutenants can be treated as a more powerful version of a Mook. In most cases, it's enough to simply bump a Mook's skills up by one. Lieutenants may also have the Command skill, which allows them to use Teamwork. You can toy around with giving them personality quirks to make them more than "bigger wolf". '''Lieutenants have one injury slot. '''If you feel that isn't enough, you can up it to two. Captains Captains are full-blown characters in the game. It isn't necessary to write-up a full blown character sheet, but you should consider getting the basics down (name, High Concept, Trouble, rough skill levels and stunts). Captains should play a part in the overall plot. They should act reasonably, running from a losing fight or using the environment against players. Use a Captain like you would play an actual character. Remember that '''Captains have a full injury track, and that Captains have Fate Points. FATE Core suggests that the GM keep a pool of Fate Points for themselves, but I like the effect of giving each Captain two Fate Points. Players know you mean business when you put tokens on the table.